Why so much hate towards people who want their meat well done?

[Stelio Kontos]

If your opinion is that a steak cooked on the rare side is that it's "soggy and gummy", then I can state with complete certainty that you've only ever eaten cheap cuts of steak from some dank community pub where the emphasis is alcohol sales, and not food quality - or cooked at home.

I'm saying that I'd hate it too if that's all I had ever experienced. But it's not.
It really is your loss at the end of the day, though.

I generally don't bother preparing American food at home. It's everywhere around me, at home I cook food from where I grew up to maintain some sense of sanity.

As for the quality of the restaurant, I don't know, the last steak house I ate at that had yet another disgusting rare steak cost $35 for a New York Strip 9oz. Not a lot of money, but I sadly live in the suburbs too.

[Ripster42]

I don't see how unless it's BBQ cooked or out of a crockpot.

You don't cook them the same at all. It's effectively the same principle as smoking meat for longer periods of time at lower heat after searing the outside. The same people who talk about it breaking down proteins (and subsequently is less nutritious) don't want to admit that it actually breaks down proteins which can make the meat less chewy if, again, it's cooked right.

[shise]

Well done, as long as not over cooked, is the way to eat it. That´s why cooking exists.

[breadisfunny]

I generally don't bother preparing American food at home. It's everywhere around me, at home I cook food from where I grew up to maintain some sense of sanity.

As for the quality of the restaurant, I don't know, the last steak house I ate at that had yet another disgusting rare steak cost $35 for a New York Strip 9oz. Not a lot of money, but I sadly live in the suburbs too.

i almost never order steak when i go out to eat. mostly cause i like to put seasoning's or in amounts on my ribeye that would make most chefs recoil in horror.

[PowerGamez]

it's funny how people who eat medium rare/rare seem to be intolerant of people eating well done or medium well. they act like someone went into their house and stabbed their child to death and try and tell others how to eat their food.

To me it goes both ways (people for and against well done steaks) and it stems from the general public's lack of understanding when it comes to food. A person might have little understanding of what happens to meat when it gets cooked or the chemical processes that take place that contribute to the taste and texture of food. Along comes someone they trust once told them "you can't cook a steak well done, if you do you're a terrible person" and they've taken it on board as gospel. Then rather than seem uninformed they'll share what they've learned without questioning it.

[De Lupe]

Don't be pretentious because you can't be bothered to do your job right.

I do my job. Doesn't mean I enjoy destroying steaks.

[Ripster42]

I do my job. Doesn't mean I enjoy destroying steaks.

If you don't enjoy destroying steaks, learn to cook correctly. If your well done steaks are more chewy than your rare steaks, you're doing your job wrong. If you're not telling your customers that you don't know how to correctly cook a well done steak, or your kitchen isn't set up to cook a well done steak, you're essentially ripping them off.

[Spiral Mage]

Because there's an undocumented human condition where people feel the EXTREME need to find a metric by which they can judge themselves to be better than those around them, when no such actual metric can be found, they will revert to making one up, no matter how ridiculous or meaningless it is, they will convince themselves that is one more reason they are a better person than you.

The OP's question obviously falls into the pretty absurd category but people will use anything they can.

[Santti]

This is one weird ass thread. This meat snobbery on how people want their steaks done is actually a thing?

[Akka]

While your experiences are as valid as the next person, the conclusions you draw from them are obviously just plain wrong.

Which ones ? Because AFAIR I didn't draw any conclusion at all about my experiences, so please enlighten me.

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One of the easiest ways to check a steak's doneness is by touch. (Temperature probing is discouraged, since piercing the meat releases juices.)
When a steak is well-done, it is firmer than say, medium-rare.

That firmness translates to chewiness.

Disagree. A bit more firmness can actually make it easier to cut through (with both teeth and knife), so less chewy - resisting slightly to the pressure is what allows the cutting, that's why it's easier to cut firm bread than a sponge. The spongy texture of uncooked meat is what I find disgusting, in fact (combined with the bland taste).

Please don't argue with people who have most likely been doing this for a living longer than you've been old enough to order your own food.

Argument of authority combined with snobbish and contemptuous attitude, meh.

Maybe you just go to shitty restaurants.

I'll say this much; any time a person says they like steak well-done, I know that they have never been to a very good restaurant.

At high-end restaurants, it is virtually unheard-of to have someone order a steak well-done. It only happens on the rare occasion someone is bringing their old-fashioned mother, who is still of the mindset that if it isn't smoking and black, she'll die of trichinosis or something.

Or maybe it's just that's how "rare" taste for people who don't like it. What a surprise, to people who don't like something, this something actually doesn't taste good. Who would have thought ?

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I'm of the mindset that anybody would like a good steak, from a high-end restaurant, cooked to rare or medium-rare, given the opportunity to try it.

Well, you're wrong and close-minded. Happy to have helped.

[Tomyris]

32 pages of telling people how to eat their meat. Not meat, expensive steak because this was never just about meat....

The only time I paid more than 100 euros for a dinner is when I wanted to try the best ''bouillabaisse'' in Marseille. I will leave that as exception. No matter how much money I have, nothing that goes in my body and comes out as feces is worth this level of snobbery and ridiculousness.

[Witchblade77]

Curious question for the red meat connoisseurs of the thread:

Do any of you actually feel "hatred" toward people who like to eat tough, dry, gray meat?

For me, the feeling is better described as "pity."

for me its mostly "bafflement". I accept that people like things I don't like, but beats me if I can understand WHY they like this particular thing the way they do. I mean there are people who prefer white chocolate to dark. and yes its on the same level for me as prefering your stake well done, seeing as white chocolate is basically cacao butter, rather then cacao itself.

but back to the topic, its kinda funny that the most defensive people in this thread ARE in fact people who like their meat grey and tough.

[Flarelaine]

The only time I paid more than 100 euros for a dinner is when I wanted to try the best ''bouillabaisse'' in Marseille.

Was it worth it?

[Akka]

for me its mostly "bafflement". I accept that people like things I don't like, but beats me if I can understand WHY they like this particular thing the way they do.

The feeling is mutual. I can't understand how anyone can claim with good faith that undercooked meat is actually tastier - it tastes horribly bland to me.
I also can't understand how people can stand alcohol (I absolutely despise the taste, to the point I need to wash my mouth if I sip something with anything stronger than wine).
That's why it's called "personal taste"

Now the philosophically interesting question would be : does this means that to some people the taste itself that is unpleasant to some is pleasant to them, OR that the same thing has two different tastes depending on who eat it ?
(obviously we'll never know, but still)

but back to the topic, its kinda funny that the most defensive people in this thread ARE in fact people who like their meat grey and tough.

Perhaps because they are the ones who are attacked ? Seriously, have you actually read the thread ?

[Tomyris]

Perhaps because they are the ones who are attacked ? Seriously, have you actually read the thread ?

Probably not. Have you read the post about people being autists if they like well done and they should not breed? if my sarcasm radar did not fail me, I think he really believed that.

[Akka]

Probably not. Have you read the post about people being autists if they like well done and they should not breed? if my sarcasm radar did not fail me, I think he really believed that.

I don't remember seeing it, but I'm pretty sure it was either sarcasm, or just lashing back at the contempt from rare-cooked snobs.

[Tomyris]

I don't remember seeing it, but I'm pretty sure it was either sarcasm, or just lashing back at the contempt from rare-cooked snobs.

Well, it was thoroughly explained in the post why it was autism that is why I thought he was serious. Anyways, people will be people.

[Witchblade77]

The feeling is mutual. I can't understand how anyone can claim with good faith that undercooked meat is actually tastier - it tastes horribly bland to me.
I also can't understand how people can stand alcohol (I absolutely despise the taste, to the point I need to wash my mouth if I sip something with anything stronger than wine).
That's why it's called "personal taste"

Now the philosophically interesting question would be : does this means that to some people the taste itself that is unpleasant to some is pleasant to them, OR that the same thing has two different tastes depending on who eat it ?
(obviously we'll never know, but still)

Perhaps because they are the ones who are attacked ? Seriously, have you actually read the thread ?

I'm not a fan of strong alcohol either, not even a fan of most cheaper wines, becasue they taste bitter and burney to me. but there are also alcoholic drinks that taste good, so.. there's that. I mean I don't even share the same taste in coffee with my own SO, but we both love coffee so its easier to understand.

well done steak tastes bland to me unless its smothered in spices to the point where its almost the only thing you taste - AND its hard to chew. the reason slow cooked pot roast is not tough and tastes nice, is not merely the process of slow cooking - its the fact that its cooked in copious amounts of liquid. with spices. lots and lots of them. medium staak is not undercooked any more than steamed broccoli that is still bright green is undercooked. quite the opposite.

and judging by reading most of the thread? attacking is being done by both sides. copiously. but the well done side is coming across as far more defensive. maybe becasue OP itself is inherently defensive so it set the tone.

P.S. whoever is that person who called people with different tastes from them - autistic and that they shouldn't breed? is right up there with a person defending well done steaks and insisting that chefs who refuse to cook them that way? should be fired and/or shot

[Gaaz]

This is one weird ass thread. This meat snobbery on how people want their steaks done is actually a thing?

Pretty much this. Also, this snobism can sometimes be pretty dangerous to health. There is a reason you do not usually see farmers that produce meat or people that hunt and eat their game choose rare cooked meat. Most of them do not even eat medium. Unless your meat was from a closed ecosystem, it can contain parasites, harmful bacteria or viruses. Unless you are 100% sure as to the origin of your meat, you always risk it if you do not cook it properly and thoroughly. I mean come on - it is common logic. Mad cow disease outbreak was not long ago, followed by sheep and pig disease outbreaks, bird flu, and other not on the global news radar, smaller scale incidents. A well done steak bears minimum risk. A rare steak is just asking for trouble. Now, I know that the dangerous for humans variant of Mad Cow Disease can not be prevented through cooking, but there are many problems that can be. Like E.Coli infection or tapeworm for example. It is actually in most travel guidelines for prevention of food poisoning - make sure your meat, dairy and eggs were thoroughly cooked, as it drastically reduces such risks.
As for people that argue about taste - it is all subjective. I happen to like thoroughly cooked food, some of my relatives do not.

[Ripster42]

for me its mostly "bafflement". I accept that people like things I don't like, but beats me if I can understand WHY they like this particular thing the way they do. I mean there are people who prefer white chocolate to dark. and yes its on the same level for me as prefering your stake well done, seeing as white chocolate is basically cacao butter, rather then cacao itself.

but back to the topic, its kinda funny that the most defensive people in this thread ARE in fact people who like their meat grey and tough.

I'll say it again, if you actually know how to cook well done steak, it's not tough. It's easier to chew than rare. Most restaurants don't cook well done steak correctly because their kitchens aren't set up to do it. Their kitchens are set up to cook rare to medium steaks because that's what most people order and it takes too much room to keep enough cooking areas at the right temps to cook a well done steak correctly (or because they're lazy/busy and don't want to take the time to do it). This also has an inertia, the effects of which you see here. People actually think well done steak is gross, when it's just bad cooks that either don't know how to cook well done, or aren't able to because of their kitchens. Those bad cooks then don't teach other cooks how to do it right and you get this pretentious aura that comes from ignorance.

Seriously, you'll see the same people saying well done steaks are tough and in the same breath say they're not as nutritious because the heat has broken down the protein in the meat. When it's a protein that makes meat tough in the first place (collagen). It's just stupidity and ignorance. If you hear someone say anything like that, just know they like being a dick who talks out of their ass.

Edit: I don't even eat well done steaks. But I'm not a pretentious dick about not eating it. If you like your steak well done, have at it, same with rare. They've got different tastes and consistency. It's your opinion which you like more.